


Pieces falling into place

by Teylizabeth



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Adventure, Episode: s01e16 The Red Scare, F/F, Falling In Love, Femslash, First Kiss, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Sex, Making Love, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:14:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25715623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teylizabeth/pseuds/Teylizabeth
Summary: The story begins after the episode 1x16 “The Red Scare”. Emma is playing the long con, but not in the way we saw on TV. She’s been fighting for something entirely else than Rittenhouse all this time. Will she and Lucy be able to fix time in the way it was always meant to be? - *Emma/Lucy Femslash*.
Relationships: Lucy Preston & Emma Whitmore, Lucy Preston/Emma Whitmore
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Timeless and all related characters are the property of MiddKid Productions, Kripke Enterprises, Davis Entertainment, Universal Television and Sony Pictures Television. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.
> 
> A big thank you to my wonderful beta-reader.

**_Lucy’s POV_ **

“Let’s try again”, Emma said from somewhere above her. She had thrown her to the mat so many times today that Lucy had lost count. Everything hurt, and she meant everything! She wasn’t sure if there was even one muscle in her body that felt close to normal.

She groaned and picked herself off the floor. “Okay”, she said and they began circling each other. Of course, she had gotten better over the last five weeks that she had to spent here in the Rittenhouse retreat, but she was far from being as good as Emma. That wasn’t surprising due to the fact, that Emma was years ahead of her with fight training.

“You going to make your move anytime in this century Princess?”, Emma said in a taunting voice and with that damn catlike smirk of hers that always threw Lucy a little off guard, but she didn’t let it get to herself this time and instead just continued circling Emma. “Alright then”, the redhead said and that was all the warning she got. In an instant Emma was at her left side and tried to kick her legs out from under her, but Lucy was prepared for the move and jumped up only to crouch down the next second, barely avoiding the elbow Emma had aimed at her face. Lucky for her that left Emma’s ribs unprotected for a moment and she could land a punch before standing up and sending a triumphant look her way.

To Lucy’s surprise Emma threw her a satisfied smile over her shoulder. Since Emma had her back to Lucy, she saw her chance and succeeded to get Emma into a chokehold. She thought that she might stand a chance this time, but then Emma walked them backwards together in record time and they both crashed into the nearest wall, which had all the air rushing out of Lucy’s lungs and she loosened the grip around Emma’s throat. That gave Emma enough room to turn around, wrap her right leg around the back of Lucy’s knees and send them both to the floor with Emma on top of her. She tried to get the upper hand and turn them over, but again Emma was faster than her and pinned her hands above her head.

“Well, well Princess. You’re getting better every day, but you’re still no match for me”, Emma said to her with a predatory look in her eyes that Lucy couldn’t quite place. It was moments like this that sent the most conflicting feelings through her body. On the one hand Emma was always mocking her, jerking her chain, and generally trying to get a rise out of her, especially with that stupid nickname! Then of course she belonged to Rittenhouse, the organization that was her sworn enemy, that had stolen her sister from her and that was everything evil could be. But there was also the fact that everything Emma had taught her in their time together had improved her ability to protect herself. Whether it was fight training like today or shooting lessons or the handling of different weapons, Emma always gave the arrogant teacher, but she made sure that Lucy got better at all those skills in no time. Then there were Emma’s eyes. No matter how hard she pushed Lucy’s buttons or how overconfident an aura she gave off, there was just something in her eyes that told Lucy that under all that tough pretense she actually cared about her.

She didn’t know if it was just all in her head or if she was simply getting crazy in this place, but there was this voice in the back of her mind that insisted she was right about that. Then there was the fact that Lucy had always admired strong women who could stand their ground and knew what they wanted. So, she couldn’t deny the simmering attraction that she felt for Emma, especially in situations like right now with Emma’s sweaty body pressed to hers and her face so close to her own. And that just made her so angry! Why in the world did she have to be attracted to the enemy? She didn’t need that! Before this whole mess started, she was on her way to having something nice with Wyatt. A good guy, on the right side of thing, on her side, always protecting her. She didn’t need this damn attraction for a hardheaded, overconfident woman working for the enemy and she sure as hell wasn’t going to ever let her know what she felt.

“Get off me!” she hissed at Emma and tried to wriggle free. That just earned her an amused grin from Emma, who only pressed her harder into the floor, leaned down and whispered into her ear: “No. Concentrate. Remember the move I’ve taught you for a situation like this.” Lucy tried to think but with Emma even closer now, all those conflicting feelings were raging that much harder through her body. Suddenly she heard the door being opened and a voice cut through her hazy thoughts.

“Emma! That’s enough for today!” The weight was gone from her body in the blink of an eye and she saw her mother holding out a hand to her. She didn’t take it and got up on her own. The hurt look on her mother’s face to that simple gesture was hard to miss, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. After all, her mother was the one who put her here against her will, who had abandoned Amy and sentenced her out of existence altogether. She didn’t know how long it would take her to forgive her mother for that, if ever.

“I think I’m going to take a shower and head of to bed afterwards. See you in the morning”, Lucy said and was about to leave, but stopped when her mother made an announcement.

“Actually, that is why I came here. I have to take care of something later tonight and I’m not sure when I’ll be back. I’m going to take some of the Rittenhouse soldiers with me. Emma, I want you to stay here and look after Lucy. I’m also going to tighten security outside the compound for your safety while I’m away.”

Lucy didn’t know if she should laugh or cry at that statement. Her mother had become a total stranger to her over the past few weeks, but then again, she never really knew the Carol Preston from this new timeline she had been thrown into after the Hindenburg. The message her mother had just sent was crystal clear to her. She wanted that Emma made sure she didn’t try to escape, same thing with the tightened security. It made her so sad that the mother she had known her whole life had simply disappeared and had been replaced by someone she knew and didn’t know at all at the same time.

“Okay. Thanks for letting me know”, she said because she wasn’t sure what else to say and made her way out of the room.

When she reached the door and turned around to close it behind her, she caught Emma’s gaze across the room and in that instant, she could read a nervousness, but also a determination in them that puzzled her. All of it was gone the next second and Emma turned her attention back to the conversation she had with her mother.

~

The warm shower felt like heaven to her sore muscles and she spent almost half an hour under the spray before finally stepping out of the cubicle. She felt so relaxed as well as exhausted afterwards that she didn’t even bother to blow-dry her hair. She put on her pajamas and crawled into bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

~

When she woke up it was to the chirping of birds. That irritated her, because the retreat was underground, which meant she never heard any animal noises waking up. It got even weirder when she opened her eyes to dimmed lights, a white ceiling and blue blinking lights. She had a headache, but that didn’t stop her from finally realizing where she was. The mothership! What was she doing in the mothership? She remembered going to bed and then… well nothing until now. She felt a panic rising and sat up with a start. That wasn’t the wisest idea, because it just made the room spin around her.

“Easy. Take it slow” someone said and rushed to her side. The freckled face, blue-green eyes and red hair that came into view were all too familiar. Kneeling in front of her with a worried look on her face was none other than Emma Whitmore.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Emma’s POV** _

It was not that hard to get the tranquilizer into Lucy’s system. After all, she had planned the whole thing for weeks now and was more than ready to go through with it. Once she found out the approximate timeframe of Carol’s absence, she finished talking to her, took a quick shower and headed to her room.

When she had waited long enough to be sure that Carol was gone and that, as a result, she was now alone with Lucy in the compound, she opened her bedside table and took out the syringe and the tranquilizer that she had stored there for this moment. She drew the liquid up into the syringe, left her room and went over to Lucy’s.

She opened the door quietly and slipped in on silent feet. When she stood at Lucy’s bedside, she couldn’t help but stare at her for some time. She looked so peaceful in sleep, without the stress, anger, fear, but also the determination that was a daily companion to her features these days. She wondered what Lucy would look like laughing, happy and content. “Soon” she told herself. “Soon I hopefully get lucky enough to see all the positive emotions on Lucy’s face”, but first she had to get this done. She positioned the syringe at Lucy’s crook of the arm and injected her with the tranquilizer.

Her next stop was the infirmary to get a wheelchair. She carefully put Lucy into it and made her way to the mothership with her. After getting Lucy inside and laying her down on one of the benches, she pushed in the coordinates to the secure location to which they would jump.

On arrival she swept the area quickly, made sure that all the safety systems worked the way they should and went back to get a couple hours of sleep. She set the alarm, to ensure that she would wake up before Lucy did.

~

As soon as she heard Lucy stir, she rushed to her side, but saw that Lucy had already gotten herself into a sitting position, which probably made her head spin. “Easy. Take it slow” she said while kneeling down in front of her.

“What happened? Why are we in the mothership and where exactly are we? Did we jump somewhere?” Lucy asked with a hoarse voice.

“I’ll answer all your questions, but maybe you should drink something first, your throat must be dry.” She grabbed the water bottle she had placed nearby and handed it to Lucy. Seeing her eyeing the bottle suspiciously, Emma couldn’t help but snort. “Relax Lucy. If I’d wanted to poison you, I’ve had plenty of better opportunities to do that, don’t you think?”

“Touché”, Lucy answered and took a couple of gulps.

“As for your questions… First of all you should know that I’m not your enemy. I never have been. I hate Rittenhouse as much as you do. They’re a bunch of pompous pricks, who think that they’re better than everyone else and that they therefore have a free pass to do whatever they want to, just like…”, she was about so say ‘my father’, but stopped herself the last second, finishing the sentence with “someone I used to know.”

If Lucy had heard her hesitation, she didn’t say anything, so she continued. “What happened is that I drugged you in your sleep as soon as your mother was gone.”

“Excuse me? You did what?” Lucy asked her with a shocked expression.

“I’m sorry for that, but I didn’t really have another choice. Since you don’t trust me yet, it was the only way to escape with you without having to explain everything back there. That would have taken way too long and I felt that the risk was too high. So yes, I drugged you, got you into the mothership and jumped here with you.”

“Okay, let’s say I believe you. Then where and when are we exactly?” Lucy wanted to know.

“We’re still in our time, but we jumped to another location. We’re in the mountains where no one can find us, if they don’t know where to look. You have to follow an exact route to get here and there are traps on the way that you need to avoid. On top of that there is a security system in place that allows me to spot any intruders from miles away.”

She could literally see the wheels turning in Lucy’s head regarding the new information. She could only imagine what it must feel like to get your world turned upside down once again. After all, for five weeks she had made Lucy believe that she was loyal to Rittenhouse and now she wanted to convince her that she had been on her side the whole time. If their places were reversed, she would probably have a hard time believing it too without any evidence that what she said was the truth. Therefore, she still had an ace up her sleeve.

As if Lucy had read her thoughts she said: “Look Emma, I want to believe you, I really do, but how do I know that this isn’t some kind of a Rittenhouse test where I have to prove my loyalty to them?”

“I understand your concern. I would feel the same way if I were you, which is why I have this for you”, she told Lucy handing her the memory stick she hadn’t let out of her sight for the past 14 years as well as a laptop that she had taken with her. “There are two files on this stick. One named _Emma_ and one named _Lucy_. There is no way to save either of them on another medium, which is why it always has to be plugged in before the files can be opened and watched. You will only be able to access the file with your name, like I have only been able to access mine, which means I have no idea what is in yours. The reason is that the respective files can solely be opened by the owner via thumbprint as well as by answering a personal question that pops up afterwards. If you don’t believe me feel free to try and open mine.”

With that said she stood up and walked to the open door of the mothership. “I’ll leave you to it. Come out whenever you’re ready. I’ve prepared breakfast outside”. Turning around she walked down the stairs and to the door that led out of the building.

~

Approximately half an hour later Lucy sat down opposite Emma at the breakfast table looking far more at ease than before. She even gave her a tentative smile that Emma took as a positive sign.

“The video on the memory stick removed any doubts that I might have had before and convinced me that you are telling me the truth, but I still got questions. Would you answer them?”

It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She must have been more anxious about the content of Lucy’s file and her reaction to it than she had realized.

“Sure, if I know the answers, I will give them to you. What is it that you want to know?”

“Actually, one questions sums it up pretty well. How did all of this come to be? More specifically… Where did you get the memory stick? When and why did you decide to join Rittenhouse undercover? How did you know that I would come along and when you were supposed to escape with me?” Lucy asked.

“You call that ONE question, Princess?” Emma couldn’t help herself. She had to use the nickname, because every time she did, Lucy’s eyes would have this spark of temper in them that was just, well… hot. This time however she made sure to keep her tone light and playful while using the nickname contrary to the times she had used it with a hint of condescension in her voice before.

“Yes I do, Ladybird. One main question and four questions to clarify the first one”, Lucy answered in a totally serious tone before bursting into laughter. “You should see the look on your face. It’s priceless!” Lucy explained calming down a little.

“Funny!”, Emma said but couldn’t help the grin that appeared on her face. After all she had just seen Lucy laugh for the first time, but still… “Did you just call me Ladybird?”

Lucy just shrugged and answered: “I figured tit for tat”.

“Fair enough. I also kinda like it. You can keep it.” Now it was her turn to laugh, because of the incredulous look on Lucy’s face. “But back to your five… sorry my mistake ONE question…”, she saw Lucy rolling her eyes and caught the napkin Lucy threw in a playfully annoyed gesture towards her “it all started back in 2003 shortly after I finished my program at CalTech, when a woman I had never seen before payed me a visit.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote I'm using in this Chapter is from the song “Lady Bird” by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood.

**_Emma’s POV_ **

**_California 2003_ **

Emma was sitting on the shore at the waterfalls near CalTech University. She came here often when she had to think. This time she had to make a decision that would set the path of her future. She had never believed that one day she would have so many opportunities to choose from, especially since she hadn’t been born into some rich family. No, living with her mother and her abusive father had taught her early on in her life that she wasn’t one of the privileged and if she wanted something she had to work that much harder for it than them. After her mother had fled with her from the drunk bastard, they had started a new and better life. She had passed science magnet school with flying colors and was accepted into CalTech. Now, with her degree in hands, she had a bunch of job offers to choose from.

Until yesterday she thought that she had it all sorted out. The best as well as the most interesting offer had come from ‘Mason Industries’. She would be working as an engineer there and the payment was great. She had decided to take the job and was about to accept it. But then a man from an organization called ‘Rittenhouse’ had knocked on her dorm door yesterday and had invited her for lunch to make her another offer.

Basically, they wanted her to do the job that she had already set her mind on, but as some kind of a spy. She was supposed to report everything that she did, heard and saw at her job back to a contact from Rittenhouse. In return she would get payed double the amount that she was already supposed to receive from Mason Industries. She had asked him what company Rittenhouse was and what they did, because up to that day she had never heard of them. The man had told her that she didn’t need to know that yet and that they would provide her with all the needed information as soon as she started working for them.

After that he had handed her a file of herself that contained her whole life from the day she had been born up to the present. He told her that the only important thing right now was that she could achieve great things if she joined them, that a lot of doors would be open for her and that a lack of money would never again be a problem.

At the end of their conversation he took the file back and told her that they had handpicked her, because of her intelligence as well as her goal-driven motivation. He urged her to join them because they had a great need for her expertise. When he left, he handed her a card with a phone number, telling her that she had one week to call it and accept the offer. Afterwards the number would expire.

So now she sat here with the card in her hands not really knowing what to do. She was going to work for Mason Industries that was for sure. The question was just how exactly. She could either really work for them or she could work as an agent for Rittenhouse and triple her salary by doing so. She also had to admit that she was curious, because of all the secrecy the organization gave off as well as flattered, because they had handpicked her for the job. Then again, the secrecy part was also a big minus, because what if they were involved in illegal business or worse? But she also had to ask herself what would happen if she said ‘no’ to them. Would an organization like this just let her go so easily and if they did, wouldn’t they just find another person for the job so that she needed to look over her shoulder all the time working at Mason Industries not being able to trust anyone? So maybe she should just take another job, even if they all paled in comparison?

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she cringed when someone sat next to her.

“I’m sorry Emma. I didn’t mean to startle you. I just came here to talk to you” a female voice said.

Emma turned sideways and took a closer look at the woman. She was in her early to mid-twenties, had long dark brown curls, blue alert eyes, sharp features and freckles all over her face. She had never seen her before. Maybe she was a fellow student at CalTech that had just started the program and wanted to ask her about it. It wasn’t uncommon that the freshmen approached the graduates for some help. She had done the same at the beginning of her studies.

“That’s alright. I was just lost in thought”, she said reassuringly. “How do you know my name? Are you a freshman at CalTech?”

“No, I’m not a student. My name is Faith and I’m a pilot just like you”, she answered with a warm smile.

“You must mistake me for someone else. I’m not a pilot. I’m an engineer”, Emma said a little confused.

“No, I don’t”, Faith answered in such a confident tone that Emma would have believed her if she didn’t know any better. “Will you walk with me? I’ll explain everything on the way.”

“Walk with you where and explain what exactly?” Emma wanted to know.

“For starters… this”, Faith answered handing her a photo.

She looked at the photo and gasped because she was so dumbfounded by what she was seeing in it. Faith and herself were standing there with their arms around each other, big smiles on their faces and giving the thumbs-up gesture. They wore matching blue jumpsuits with some company logo on the front. But that wasn’t the weirdest thing about the picture. No, really weird was that Faith didn’t look one day older than she did now. She herself on the other hand was around 60 years of age! What the hell?

“Walk with me?”, Faith repeated. “Believe me you want to see proof of what I’m about to tell you.”

“Okay, you got me really curious here. Let’s walk”, Emma answered getting up. “Where did you get this picture and why am I that much older in it while you seem to have the same age that you have now?”

Faith also got up and they started walking. “The reason is that I’m from the future and the picture was taken a month ago in the year 2043, when I successfully flew the mothership for the first time as a pilot with you as my co-pilot.”

“Wait a second. What is the mothership?”, Emma wanted to know, because the fact that Faith had just told her that she came from the future was crazy, but so was the picture. It would at least explain the age difference, but it was also possible that the picture had been reworked.

“That’s where we’re going. It’s important that you see me jump. Jumping means that I’m going to pilot the mothership, in other words the time travel machine, back to 2043”.

“Alright, let’s assume I buy this story with you coming from the future. Then why are you here, why visit me? I’m sure there are a lot of other people and places that are far more interesting”, Emma inquired.

She saw Faith give a little smile at the question. “I’m here because you, I mean your future you sent me here to give you all the information you need for your decisions to come, so that the future I live in will actually happen.”

“What decisions?” Emma asked. She had a feeling which decisions Faith meant, but she wanted to be sure.

“Well, I know that a Rittenhouse agent approached you yesterday with a proposal to join them while working undercover at Mason Industries for them. I also know that you came here because you are very conflicted about the decision. That is why your Future-You sent me to this location in this time. She wanted me to tell you that you should accept the offer, but that you won’t be working for Rittenhouse”, Faith explained.

“Okay, now I’m confused. I should work for Rittenhouse, but I also shouldn’t? I don’t get it.” Emma admitted.

“You’re supposed to gain their trust and make them believe that you are a loyal Rittenhouse agent. Sadly, this will include for you to be stuck in the past for almost a decade as a test of said loyalty, but I promise you that it will all be worth it in the end.”

To say that Emma was shocked about the news was probably the understatement of the year. “How on earth can it be worth it to be stuck in the past for so long?” She had trouble keeping her voice down at the question, because really if this was all true… Had she lost her mind in the future?

“It will be worth it because you will be incredibly happy in the end. Look at the picture I gave you and how radiant you look.” Emma took another look at the picture and had to admit that Faith was right. “I also have another photo for you that shows how content you are in the future.”

With that said Faith handed her a second photo. It showed herself again. This time in her late thirties. She sat with her back against a wall on a porch. Her legs were outstretched and she had her arms wrapped around a woman probably the same age as herself. The woman had dark hair and sat with her back against Emma. She was pointing at something, while leaning her head against Emma’s shoulder and smiling at her. Emma looked in the direction the woman pointed and grinned while rolling her eyes. They looked close and extremely comfortable with each other. Then she turned the photo around and was even more puzzled. On the back was a quote, but it wasn’t written in her handwriting saying: _“Lady bird come on down. I'm here waiting on the ground”_.

“Who is that?” Emma asked.

“That is Lucy. You will meet her when the time is right. You also have to save her from Rittenhouse at some point.”

“Save her? How?”

“You will know how and when, at least that is what you told me in the future. I’m sorry, I don’t have any more details to that question, but you gave me this, telling me that there are more information on it with some answers”, Faith said handing her the memory stick that she would give to Lucy 14 years from now. “There is one other thing I have to tell you… When you are going to be stuck in the past, from 1873 to 1882 to be exact, a man named Garcia Flynn will come to you. Go with him, he will get you back to your original timeline.” With that said Faith stopped and Emma was taken aback by what she saw.

“I assume this is it, the mothership?” Emma asked although the question was more rhetorical than anything else, because the big white thing with blue lights was so out of place here in the nature that it stood out like a red rose in the middle of a field of daisies.

“Yes, it is”, Faith answered and before she could reply anything, she was surprised by Faith hugging her and whispering in her ear: “You will be happy. I promise. Goodbye, see you in the future.”

“Yeah, I guess”, Emma said with a little lump in her throat.

Faith let go of her and set out for the mothership. When the door opened for her and she stepped inside she turned around and waved at Emma who waved back. Then the door closed and a minute later Faith and the mothership had disappeared in a swoosh of wind.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Lucy’s POV_ **

“So, after Faith was gone, I called the number the Rittenhouse agent had given me and told them that I’ll accept their offer”, Emma finished her story “and well, you now the rest”.

“Wow that’s… Wow!”, Lucy said not sure what else to say. “Do you still have the pictures and if you do can I see them sometime?”

To her surprise Emma grabbed her jacket, that she had hung over the chair behind her, opened one of the pockets and handed her the two photos over the table. “I’ve always had the memory stick and the two pictures with me. When times got especially hard, they reminded me of what I was fighting for”, Emma told her.

The first picture that Lucy gave her attention to, was the one of Faith and Emma. She smiled because both women appeared to be completely overjoyed. She had never seen Emma with such an expression on her face. She looked even more beautiful like this than she already was.

“You think I’m beautiful?” Emma interrupted her thoughts.

“What?” Lucy asked dumbfounded.

“You were stroking the picture where my face is and murmured ‘beautiful’.”

‘Busted’, Lucy thought. She must have said that part out loud. She was about to deny it and make something up about how Emma had misunderstood her and that she had murmured another word. What made her decide to go with the truth though was the slight hope in Emma’s voice she had heard when Emma had asked the question.

“Yes, I think you are beautiful. I mean, everyone in their right mind would agree with me, but I was thinking that you are even prettier with that expression on your face, so unguarded and with that big smile.”

“Thank you”, Emma answered. “I’m glad that I’ll be able to let my guard down like this in the future. It was strenuous to have it up all the time and not being able to lower it, because the next surprise was already waiting around the corner. It was also exhausting to pretend being someone I’m not all the time. Even from people I trusted and considered my friends, like Connor or Rufus, I had to keep this big secret. I’m relieved that I can finally tell you all of this. I was looking forward to meeting you and it wasn’t easy being a bitch to you for the past five weeks. In fact, it was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do and I'm sorry if I made you feel like you weren't worth much.”

“Hey, stop” Lucy said reaching for Emma’s hand over the table and interlocking their fingers. “I understand completely, and I had this feeling in my gut that you wanted me to get better at everything you’ve taught me. I never felt as if you hated me or anything, but I let my head overrule my heart and convinced myself that you did. I think I did it out of self-preservation, because if I had let my hopes get up and they had proven me wrong, it would have been hard for me. Furthermore, I think you are amazing. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you living a lie all this time. So, I’m extremely glad that we can get to know each other all over again.”

Emma let out a breath she had obviously been holding. “Thank you. That means a lot to me”, she said with a smile.

Lucy smiled back at her before taking her hand away and looking at the second picture in her hand. She was amazed at how close and familiar they seemed to be with each other in the future. It either meant they became very good friends, or they became lovers. The latter was a tentative hope from Lucy. Now that she knew that Emma had never been her enemy it became harder to suppress the feelings, she had for her. While she used to convince herself that there was no possibility that Emma would ever reciprocate them, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Not when Emma had done everything in her power to make a future possible where this picture had been taken. On the other hand, maybe she was getting a bit ahead of herself here and they only became good friends. Time would tell she guessed. The only thing she could to was wait and see, right?

She turned the picture around and almost choked on the coffee she had just drunk, because the handwriting on the back of the photo was hers. It was another inconclusive hint regarding their future relationship. She had called Emma ‘Ladybird’ only a short time ago, but did that mean she was waiting on the ground for her ‘Ladybird’, that is for Emma, to come back to her from a time travel as a friend or as a lover? Or did it mean something entirely else? Damn it, this was frustrating to say the least!

“A penny for your thoughts”, Emma said in a low voice.

Lucy looked up from the picture and into Emma’s blue-green eyes. God, she could lose herself in them. She cleared her throat and shook her head to clear it as well. “I was thinking that it is interesting that I just called you Ladybird. Now there is this quote in my handwriting on the back of this photo saying something about me waiting for a ‘lady bird’. I don’t believe that is a coincidence, do you?”

“No, I don’t”, Emma answered with something in her voice that Lucy couldn’t quite place. “Is that all you were thinking?”

Before she could give Emma an answer to the question, she was saved by someone calling out their names. That someone had a very familiar voice.

“Is that…?”, she began to ask, while Emma shouted: “Connor we’re over here!”

And indeed, Connor Mason came around the corner of the warehouse and walked in their direction. Emma was up in a heartbeat and ran into his arms. He spun her around and they both laughed. Lucy got up herself and walked towards them. It was nice to see them both in such high spirits.

“I’m very glad that you’re one of the good guys, Emma”, he said in his thick British accent while setting Emma down again and giving her a fatherly pat on the shoulder.

“Well I couldn’t let you sort out the mess and save the world all by your own, could I?”, Emma asked good naturedly.

“I suppose not”, Conor answered winking at Emma. Then he stepped aside and embraced Lucy. “Good to have you back. We were worried about you.”

“It’s good to see you Connor”, Lucy replied but couldn’t stop the questions she had from bubbling to the surface. “Sorry, but I’m a little lost here… What are you doing here and what mess do we have to sort out?”

“Do you want to have the honor to explain it to Lucy, Emma?”, Connor asked turning sideways. “Since you came up with the plan?”

Emma nodded turning in Lucy’s direction. “For starters you should probably know that your mother ordered the warehouse, that you and your friends were time travelling from, to be blown up at the same time that I stole the mothership.”

“Wait, what?”, Lucy asked incredulous. “I didn’t know that! How is everyone?”

“Calm down. Everyone is fine”, Emma reassured her. “When Homeland Security came to arrest me, they underestimated me by only sending four field agents. I had to shoot them, but I used bullets laced in Paralyzing Serum and made sure that the wounds weren’t fatal. Afterwards I called Agent Christopher, telling her what I had done, so that she could send out a medical team. I also warned her about Carol’s plan to blow them all to pieces, which gave her and the team time to escape, together with the lifeboat, to an underground bunker. They have been staying there for the past five weeks while waiting for my call regarding your rescue.”

“Oh, thank God”, Lucy said with a relieved sigh.

“As for the mess we need to fix…”, Emma continued “We need to get rid of Rittenhouse once and for all. You probably don’t remember that the Rittenhouse soldiers at the retreat weren’t there when we first arrived. At the time, there was no one except for three Rittenhouse operatives, who had managed to escape their arrestment by Homeland Security. They told Carol that Homeland Security had all the evidence they needed to arrest everyone in Rittenhouse and that they were the three remaining members that hadn’t been caught. So, Carol came up with a plan.”

“What kind of a plan?”, Lucy wanted to know, anticipating nothing good.

“She made me do two jumps with her. At first, she left one of the operatives with you to make sure that you couldn’t get away while we were gone. When we came back, there were already enough new soldiers to make the second jump with the last operative, while the soldiers had an eye on you.”

‘Oh no’, Lucy thought, understanding what Emma was trying to indicate, but had to ask anyway. “What exactly was my mother’s plan and where did you jump?”

Emma looked at her sympathetically. “Your mother and I jumped to 1975 and Carol instructed each operative to continue their lives there. They were supposed to recruit new Rittenhouse members for the future and tell them when to show up at the retreat exactly.”

“Which is exactly what they did judging by the army I met back in the retreat”, Lucy groaned. “I suppose the plan is that we jump to 1975 and stop the operatives from recruiting anyone. Am I right?”

“Yes exactly. We will meet Wyatt, Rufus and Jiya there. Connor is here to keep communications open with Agent Christopher in the bunker. Before we can jump though, we must dress appropriately for the seventies. Come on, I show you my private ‘Clothes for the past’ store”, Emma said with a wink in her direction.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Emma’s POV_ **

Emma and Lucy went to the room that housed the clothes for the past while Connor made his way to the control room to get everything ready for the conference call with the bunker.

They wouldn’t need any of the dresses that hang in time chronological order on racks at both sides of the room for their first mission, but they would need them for the second and third one. Emma told Lucy to put on hiking gear, because the first trip to the past would take place in the woods.

“And here I thought I could dress up like the Princess that I am” Lucy teased, winking at her. “Oh, and what do we have over there? A red dress with black Polka dots. If that isn’t fitting for a Ladybird, then I don’t know what is. Sadly though, it’s for the 50’s. What a shame.”

“How about this… If we ever need to go to the 50’s, I’ll wear that dress and we’ll find you a matching nice princess-like one?” Emma suggested.

“Deal.” Lucy answered.

“Although on second thought”, Emma added walking over to Lucy dropping her voice lower to make it sound a little suggestive “if you ask nicely I might wear it for you, since you seem to like the idea of me in that dress so much”.

When she saw Lucy swallow and clear her throat, Emma couldn’t help the satisfaction she felt as well as the warm feeling that Lucy’s reaction ignited in her.

“Cocky, aren’t we?”, Lucy managed to get out.

Emma didn’t give a response to that, only blew Lucy a kiss and turned around grinning to herself.

~

After they had gathered everything they would need for the trip, they went to join Connor in the main hall, which housed the control room as well as the mothership and made the call to the bunker. They saw four excited faces grinning back at them.

Lucy was the first to speak up. “It is good to see you all. I was so worried these past few weeks and when Emma told me that there had been an explosion in the warehouse, and I thought for a moment that you had died… I don’t know what it would have done to me if it actually had been true. Good thing that we had an ally the whole time without knowing it, right Emma?” she said looking sideways to Emma with a warm smile on her face that reached all the way to her eyes.

Before she had the chance to answer Wyatt cut in. “It’s good to see you healthy and well too Lucy. It was hard not being able to see you or speak to you while you were at the Rittenhouse retreat, wondering how you were holding up and if you were safe…”

“I kept her safe”, Emma said in an icy tone. What the hell was soldier boy thinking? Of course, she had kept Lucy safe! Ever since Faith had shown her the picture of Lucy and herself, she knew that she wouldn’t let anyone harm her.

“I know”, Lucy said putting a reassuring hand on her arm.

“I’m sorry, Emma. I didn’t mean it like that. We are all grateful for what you have done, and it must have taken a lot of strength to go through with that all those years. It’s just… I’m just glad that we are all back together safe and sound.”

Emma took a calming breath before saying: “Never mind. It’s okay.”

“I think we are all relieved to see each other alive and well”, Agent Christopher said “but I’m afraid we need to safe the big reunion party for later, because we have to capture those three Rittenhouse agents in the 70’s first. Emma why don’t you tell us about the first person we have to deal with and talk us through the plan?”

“Her name is Rachel”, Emma began opening a picture of the woman on the screen, so that they could all see it. “She is one of the Rittenhouse members that had a mother in the organization, which means she was born into it and not recruited. Since Rittenhouse prides itself with the motto that it is all about family, they overlooked Rachel’s numerous aborted apprenticeships and failed attempts at finishing a study program in her twenties. When she turned thirty, she decided to extend her martial arts training, basically the only thing that she was successful at since being a child and training to become a full time Rittenhouse field agent. To everybody’s surprise she absolved it as the best of her class two years later. This in combination with her not so nice character traits, that Rittenhouse valued highly of course, let her become a respected member quickly. At the time Homeland Security made the arrests, Carol and I dropped her off at a cottage in the woods back in the 70’s. The plan is to land both ships a couple of miles away from that location as not to draw attention to ourselves. We will hike to the cabin from there and set up camp in a safe distance to catch some sleep before our attack in the early hours of the morning when it is still dark. I think it is best if we coordinate the actual approach on-site when we have a more detailed picture of the situation. Is everyone in agreement with that plan?”, she asked.

Looking around Emma saw everybody nodding.

“Okay then”, Agent Christopher said “Wyatt, Jiya and Rufus will get ready and meet you at the coordinates you’ve sent us earlier. Good luck.”

~

Upon arrival at the spot that they would set up camp, Emma spoke up.

“This is the spot I picked for us to get some sleep before we head out to the cabin. Since we’ve got three tents, two of the tents have to be shared by two people each, while one person gets a tent for themselves. Furthermore, we will need two people to keep watch while the others sleep. I suggest we go to the cabin in a group of four, the last one staying behind in case something goes wrong inside, so that we have eyes outside as our backup. I also have earbuds for everyone with which we can stay connected the whole time, being able to talk to each other.” Emma finished handing each of them one.

“Rufus and I can keep watch, while you guys get some sleep and we’ll share one of the tents since we’re now a couple and all.”, Jiya announced with a huge smile on her face looking at Rufus.

“Sounds good to me”, he replied giving Jiya a quick kiss.

“I can share the other tent with Emma. If that’s alright with you”, Lucy said looking at Emma.

Emma was hoping for Lucy to share one of the tents with her, but wasn’t quite sure if she wouldn’t be more comfortable sharing a tent with Wyatt and judging by the disappointed look on his face, he definitely had hoped for the latter.

“Of course. I’d be happy to share with you”.

After that had been settled, they got to work, setting up the tents for the night and getting to sleep or in Jiya’s and Rufus’s case starting their respective watch.

~

Emma woke to the feeling of a warm body pressed half on top of her. She looked down and saw Lucy’s head lying on her shoulder, one arm draped across her stomach and a leg thrown over hers. She smiled to herself at how right it felt. She could get used to waking up like this every day. She considered if she should extract herself from under Lucy’s body quietly or if she should nudge her awake gently. The decision was taken from her, when Jiya tapped on the front of the tent saying that it was time to go.

In response to that she felt Lucy hugging her tighter mumbling: “Just another minute. It’s so cozy and warm right now.”

“Nice to know that I make such a good pillow”, Emma said chuckling.

She felt Lucy tense almost immediately. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your personal space during my sleep. I’m usually not a hugger when sharing a bed or in this case a tent with someone. I can keep to my side of the bed, sleeping bag, I mean”, Lucy apologized in a rush while scrambling away from her and into a sitting position.

Emma couldn’t suppress the grin at seeing Lucy like that. It was cute to see her all flustered and with a blush creeping into her cheeks. “It’s alright. If I hadn’t felt comfortable, I wouldn’t have let you come so close in the first place. I always have a certain awareness of my surroundings, even in my sleep. It’s part of the Rittenhouse training and it has kept me alive many times so far, but it seems that my subconsciousness didn’t have a problem with my body being used as a pillow by you”, she said winking at Lucy.

She reveled a moment in Lucy’s obvious speechlessness to that last comment, before getting up and climbing out of the tent.

~

When everyone was awake and ready Lucy, Wyatt, Rufus and Emma set out for the cabin. Wyatt picked the door lock quickly and they were inside. “Okay, let’s split up”, Emma whispered. “Wyatt and Rufus clear the basement, while Lucy and I go upstairs and do the same there. Remember that Rachel is highly trained, so be careful”, she whispered in Wyatt’s direction. He gave a quick nod and made his way down the hallway with Rufus following him.

Emma motioned for Lucy to follow her and walked over to the stairs that led into another hallway. Everything went fine until she stepped onto the second last stair. It gave a creaking noise and Emma went motionless. She carefully lifted her foot back up and put it onto the floor of the hallway, Lucy doing the same behind her. The hallway was short, ending in a single room. They slowly made their way to the open door and Emma went in first, sweeping her gun to the left first. At that moment she heard a kick against the door behind her and felt a sharp pain in her back that had her stagger forward and fall to the ground. She caught her fall by rolling over her shoulder and getting up again all in one swift movement. Turning around she saw Rachel running out and went right after her only to stop dead in her tracks upon reaching the threshold with her gun at the ready.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Emma Whitmore together with little Miss Preston trying to sneak up on me and do what exactly? Kill me in my sleep?”, Rachel taunted her while shielding herself with Lucy in front of her and holding a gun to her head. “Sorry but stepping onto that broken stair gave me enough time to get out of bed and hide behind the door and Lucy here was so nice to run straight into my arms”, Rachel said, grinning slyly.

“Shit! Stall her. I’ll try to get a clear shot at her”, Emma heard Wyatt say over the earbuds.

Emma was scared, really scared, because Rachel had Lucy at gunpoint, and she had just found her after all those years of waiting. This wasn’t supposed to happen, she was supposed to get to know her and have some kind of a future with her. Okay, she thought to herself, she could do this, she knew Rachel from fighting side by side at Rittenhouse with her, which meant she also knew her weaknesses. The most important one being that she had always depended on others to boost her ego in whatever way possible. Take that away and anger would rise, resulting in her making mistakes. That, Emma thought, she could exploit right now.

“I’m sure she did”, Emma said with a confidence that she wasn’t quite feeling, but made it look like she was. “Like all the other men and women just throwing themselves at your feet with a snap of your fingers. I mean you are handsome, hot even.”

“Thanks for the flattery Emma, but you don’t really think that this impresses me enough to just let the Missy here go, do you?”, Rachel asked with a mocking undertone in her voice.

“Of course not Rachel. I’m not stupid. I was merely trying to make a point here. So, let me finish please?”, Emma continued in a sickly-sweet voice.

“Sure, go on. This should be interesting and it’s not as if I’m in a hurry to go somewhere”, Rachel replied evenly sweet.

First mistake, Emma thought. If you had the advantage that Rachel had right now, you never paused to talk. You rather used that advantage to get out of the situation as fast as possible. That was what she would have done in a situation like this, but she had guessed right, Rachel was craving the attention too much to do the smart thing.

“My point is that although you are good-looking and a lot of people would jump at the chance to have a one-night stand with you, you do have a problem keeping the people that you really want, right?”

“Shut up!”, Rachel growled in response and Emma could see the anger rising.

“What was the name of that nice guy from the suburbs you had a relationship with, before he rode into the sunset with an equally nice girl from next door. Ah right, John it was”. Emma made a slight pause to drive the rest of the sentence home. “Do you know why you couldn’t keep him for longer than a year? It’s because he finally realized that what lies underneath that pretty face and athletic body is just repelling. My dear Rachel, everybody knows that deep inside you are just a cold hearted, self-centered…”, she didn’t get any further than that, because all of a sudden Rachel let go of Lucy throwing her to the side and pointing the gun at Emma.

Before she got the chance to do anything else though a shot was fired and the gun fell out of Rachel’s now bleeding hand.

“You bitch!”, Rachel hissed through gritted teeth while Emma turned her around and cuffed her hands behind her back.

“Coming out of your mouth, I’ll take that as a compliment”, Emma replied.

“Nice shot”, she added looking at Wyatt and giving him a grateful smile. “Thank you. Can you please get her out of my sight? I’ll catch up shortly, okay?”, Emma asked him.

“Okay”, Wyatt replied.

She gave him a thankful nod and turned around to Lucy. “Are you alright?”, she asked putting a calming hand onto her shoulder.

“Yeah, I will be”, she answered a bit shakingly.

Not knowing how else to express her relief that nothing worse had happened to Lucy and before she could think better of it, she pulled her into a hug, which Lucy immediately returned.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Lucy’s POV_ **

The walk back from the cabin went smoothly, although if looks could kill, Emma would be dead many times over by now. While Rachel hadn’t said another word on their way to the ships, Lucy saw her staring daggers at Emma’s back every time she turned around. Emma and herself led the group, Rufus and Jiya had taken Rachel both at one arm and Wyatt brought up the rear. Lucy could feel Emma shooting her sideway glances every once in a while, probably to make sure that she was okay, which warmed her heart. At one point she wanted to reassure Emma that she was indeed fine and reached out for her hand. She squeezed it shortly and smiled at her. When Emma smiled back and didn’t let go of her hand afterwards, she didn’t either and welcomed the fuzzy feeling that the action evoked inside of her. Only when they arrived at the ship did she reluctantly let go of Emma's hand. They took Rachel from Rufus and Jiya and lead her up the steps of the mothership. Then they jumped back to the present where two Homeland Security agents already awaited them together with Connor. They handed Rachel over to the agents and watched as they took her out of the warehouse.

When they were gone, the three of them went to the computers in the main room to make a call to the bunker, because Emma wanted to brief them on their mission the following day. As soon as the link was established Emma began to tell them about their next target.

“This is Dr. Kyle Mellenga”, she began, projecting a picture of a middle-aged man onto the screens. “He was recruited into Rittenhouse after his successful studies in medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He was the third best absolvent of his class and the best one with a specialization in general surgery. Over the years he became an important asset to Rittenhouse because he had the skill to treat the various major and minor injuries of the field agents after they came back from dangerous missions. This approach prevented many hospital visits, which allowed the organization to stay under the radar and avoid questions from the authorities. Kyle has always been overly self-confident and chose the profession of a surgeon less for the reason of helping people and more for the reputation and money that came with it. Therefore, he made sure to get a high-rank and a good monthly salary upon joining Rittenhouse. In addition to that, he officially worked as a general surgeon at a hospital in the USA to not attract unwanted attention. This is why Carol thought it best to have someone make him fake papers and let him continue his line of work in the 1970s. My idea for tomorrow is to land both ships somewhere not far away from said hospital. Lucy and I will go in and convince Kyle that we need him back in the present, while Rufus, Wyatt and Jiya will cover one of the entrances each in case something goes wrong.”

Pausing she turned in Lucy’s direction saying: “When we talk to him you have to be a convinced and proud new Rittenhouse member. Can you do that?”

Lucy didn’t have to think twice about the question. She wanted to destroy that organization and if that meant to pretend having been turned by her mother, so be it. “I love Rittenhouse and am extremely grateful to have gotten the chance to prove myself and my loyalty to them with this mission, got it” she answered with a smile that was super sweet.

That earned her a short laugh from Emma. “Alright Princess, I think that will do the trick”, she said with an amused sparkle in her eyes.

“That sounds like a good plan to me”, Agent Christopher spoke up. “I suggest that we call you tomorrow morning when everyone is ready to go here in the bunker. We can agree upon a time before noon then to send both ships simultaneously to the past.”

After everybody had signalized their agreement to that, they cut the link.

~

In the evening Lucy got under the covers of the king-size bed that she would be sharing with Emma for the night. Since the only other sleeping option in the warehouse had been the couch in the main room, they had agreed on sharing their sleeping place once again so that Connor could take the couch. Lucy was more than happy with that arrangement because it meant being close to Emma and with her ever-growing feelings for the woman, she relished in the opportunity to be as near to her as possible.

Their room had an adjoining bathroom from which Emma emerged ready for bed in that moment. Lucy had to forcibly take her eyes away from her as she felt heat rising into her cheeks. The pajamas Emma was wearing hugged her curves just right and of course it had shorty shorts that accentuated her long legs. She busied herself with rearranging her pillow, although there was nothing wrong with it and the position, she had been lying in was quite comfortable.

“What a day”, Emma sighed getting into bed and lying down on her back.

“Yeah”, Lucy agreed. “We got the bad girl though and tomorrow we’ll get the bad guy. I’m sure of it”, she said and actually felt as optimistic as she sounded.

“How can you be so sure of that?” Emma wanted to know.

“Well first of all I have you and you’re amazing”, Lucy said before she could think better of it “and second the team is awesome, too. We can do it.”

“I hope you are right” Emma answered before switching the light off. “Good night, Lucy.”

“Good night, Emma.”

~

In the middle of the night Lucy heard distressed noises coming from beside her. She turned around in the semidarkness to look at Emma. She was lying in an extremely stiff position on her back, her brows where pinched together and she was murmuring incoherent things. Lucy reached out, touching her arm and shaking it gently to wake her up from what was probably a nightmare. Emma began tossing her head from one side to the other and now Lucy could make out the words “No” and “Lucy”. Enough was enough she decided and shook Emma a little harder while saying almost in a commanding tone “Wake up”. That did the trick and Emma bolted upright with another “Lucy! No!”

Lucy reacted on pure instinct hugging Emma and murmuring: “I’m right here. Everything is fine. It was just a nightmare.”

She heard Emma sniffle and held her at arm’s length to be able to look her in the face. She saw a tear rolling down Emma’s cheek, which really worried her, because this was strong, tough, beautiful Emma Whitmore crying for heaven’s sake.

“Hey, hey what is it? Talk to me”, Lucy said while pushing strands of hair behind Emma’s ears and wiping her tears away with her thumbs. She did all this to calm Emma down and only now realized how intimate the gesture was, but Emma didn’t seem to mind. On the contrary, she pressed her face into Lucy’s hand before taking it into her own.

“I’m sorry”, Emma whispered. “I didn’t want to wake you up. I have nightmares on a regular basis. Although usually no one is around that I could disturb with them. It’s okay Lucy, I’m okay.”

“No. you’re obviously not okay and there is nothing you have to apologize for”, Lucy replied firmly. “You don’t have to pretend to be invulnerable, bad ass Emma with me anymore, I hope you know that. Although you are pretty bad ass, even when crying”, she added for good measure.

She knew that the comment had the desired effect when Emma chuckled in response. “I know that I don’t have to pretend to be anything with you that I’m not, but I’m still getting used to that feeling.”

“Come here”, Lucy said, again acting on impulse, taking Emma into her arms and lying down with her. When Emma didn’t move out of her embrace, she figured that she must have done the right thing.

“You died”, she heard Emma’s small voice.

“What?”

“In my dream. You died at Rachel’s hand. She pulled the trigger and there was nothing I could do to save you”, Emma said with desperation in her voice.

In response Lucy squeezed her shortly answering: “But you did save me. Go back to sleep. I’ll continue holding you if that’s alright with you. Hopefully, your subconsciousness will leave you alone then in your dreams”.

“That would be nice”, Emma admitted.

So, they went back to sleep like this.

~

Lucy woke when Emma stirred. Neither of them had moved during the night and Emma still lay with her head on Lucy’s shoulder.

“Good morning”, Lucy said. “Did you sleep better for the rest of the night?”

“Yes, thanks to you I slept like a baby. No bad dreams whatsoever. In fact, I can’t remember anything of what I dreamt, and I feel well rested”, Emma answered shifting slightly so that her head was now resting close to Lucy’s and they could look each other in the eyes.

“I’m glad to hear that”, Lucy responded not moving in the slightest. She was enchanted by Emma’s eyes and couldn’t look away.

Emma on her part moved even closer, so that their noses where almost touching, before raising her head and getting her face even closer to Lucy’s in the process. That made butterflies erupt in Lucy’s stomach and when she felt Emma’s lips only being a hair's breadth away from her own, she wished that the other woman would just kiss her already.

“Lucy? Emma?”, Connors voice came through the closed door at that moment accompanied with a knock. “Are you awake? I just wanted to let you know that Denise Christopher called, telling me that the team in the bunker is ready to go.”

She saw Emma squeezing her eyes shut above her and knew that the moment was broken. Emma pushed herself up. “Yes, we’re awake. We’ll get ready and meet you in the main room shortly.”

Yes, we will, Lucy thought to herself. Great timing Connor by the way. You couldn’t have knocked a damn minute later, could you? She groaned in frustration and got up herself.

~

Arriving at the hospital, Emma and Lucy walked up to the front desk, while Wyatt, Rufus and Jiya covered the three entrances like agreed upon the previous day.

“Hi”, Emma addressed the receptionist “my name is Emma Whitmore and this is Lucy Preston”, she said pointing at Lucy “we’re here to see Dr. Kyle Mellenga.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but please be so kind to call him and let him know that we are waiting for him here. It is really important. I’m sure he will make time for us.”

“Okay, I’ll try calling his department. Wait a second, please.”

“Sure. Thank you very much.”

Lucy saw the receptionist calling a number and picking up the receiver. She heard her explain the situation to whoever was on the other end of the line. After a couple of minutes, she hung up and informed them that Kyle would come down to meet them in a little bit.

~

“There he is”, Emma told Lucy while getting up from the bench that the two of them had taken a seat on to wait for Kyle. Lucy got up as well and looked down the hallway where Kyle was approaching them from.

“Emma, it’s good to see you” he said shaking Emma’s hand “and nice to see you too Lucy, especially since you are here on your own free will and not in handcuffs like the last time I saw you. Sorry about that by the way.”

He was a good actor. Lucy had to give him that. She would have almost believed him that he actually meant that last part about being sorry for how her mother had treated her in front of everyone, when she had forced her to join Rittenhouse. She also remembered her own act and sent him the friendliest smile she could muster.

“There is nothing to be sorry for”, she answered waving it off. “My mother is a proud Rittenhouse member and she was right to put some sense into me and join the organization. I’m sure that we can achieve great things together.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Speaking of Carol, where is she if I may ask?”

“She couldn’t join us on this mission but thought it would be a good opportunity for me to prove myself to her and to our cause if I where the one to take you back to the present with us. A situation came up where we urgently need your expertise. Of course, we made sure that the danger posed by Homeland Security is over.”

“That is great news”, Kyle responded. “Wait here while I get my things, please. I’ll meet you back here.” With that said he turned and hurried down the corridor.

“Something is off”, Emma told Lucy as she watched him go.

“Why do you think that? Haven’t I been convincing enough?”

“No, it’s not that. Everything you told him made perfect sense and there is no reason why he shouldn’t believe what you have told him. It’s just not like him to give in that easily without further questions”, Emma said frowning. She tapped her earbud then and told the crew outside to be ready in case Kyle should show up.

It turned out that Emma was right, when Lucy heard Rufus’s voice in her ear telling them that he had spotted Kyle at the entrance he was watching, heading in the direction of the parking lot. A couple of moments later he let them know that he had caught Kyle at his car before he could get inside and drive away.

~

“Why did you try to flee?” Emma inquired when they reached the parking lot.

Kyle gave Emma a look that was oozing with disgust. “Isn’t it obvious?”, he asked. “Carol never trusted you and told me to run for the hills should you ever show up alone without having a good reason why she isn’t with you and Lucy telling me that this was supposed to be some kind of an ‘She has to prove herself’ mission wasn’t good enough an explanation for my taste. Since you showed up with the enemy, I take it Carol was right about you.”

That was good to know and could come in handy to apprehend the last Rittenhouse agent Lucy thought. When Emma turned away from Kyle walking towards her, she told her exactly that, adding: “If I had been him, I wouldn't have given you the information so lightly.”

Emma nodded in response. “Yes, me neither, but a battered ego can result in a loose tongue. It isn’t the first time I have made that experience.”

As if Kyle wanted to confirm her statement, he spat the word ‘Traitor!’ in Emma’s direction.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Emma’s POV_ **

Taking an enraged Kyle between them, they walked the short way back to the ships. When he seemed to realize that his fury and insults were getting him nowhere, he changed his strategy.

“Emma, come on. Why are you doing this to me? You’ve always been one of the most valued agents inside of Rittenhouse. Why are you betraying us and everything we have work so hard for? Is there anything I can offer you that will make you consider changing your mind? I’m sure we’d make a great team. We could even start a new Rittenhouse cell right here in the past and recruit people together. What do you think?” Kyle asked her in a rush of words without taking a breath once.

Emma for her part ignored him. He wasn’t worth an answer. First of all, her reasons for doing anything were none of his business and secondly, she had always thought of him as a wimp with no backbone, who only valued himself and no one else. Surely his next insult was just waiting around the corner, because if Kyle couldn’t stand one thing, it was being ignored and that made it even easier to do exactly that.

As if on cue Kyle said: “You know what Emma? It really is true what they say about you.”

He probably stopped there for effect, Emma thought, or it was another lame attempt at getting a reaction out of her. Emma didn’t care either way, so she continued to ignore him.

“You do know what they say about you, don’t you Emma?”, Kyle tried again.

People in Rittenhouse had called her a lot of things over the years, but with her goal in mind, she let go of the malicious comments thrown her way by other Rittenhouse members. It didn’t matter what they said.

“Well since you don’t care to answer me, let me enlighten you. They call you an ‘Ice Queen’ and you know what? It’s true, you really have no heart and no emotions!”, he yelled at her.

Yes, she had heard a lot of people call her that and it was partway true. Not the thing about her not having a heart or any emotion, but she had become an ‘Ice Queen’, because she had shoved her feelings into a big box inside of herself and buried it as long as it had been necessary to survive in the organization, without showing vulnerabilities.

The only reaction she showed to Kyles outburst was to take him up the stairs of the mothership and sit him down when they arrived at the ships.

Jumping back to the present and handing him over to the waiting Homeland Security agents like Rachel the day before, Kyle turned around with a final: “This isn’t over Emma!”

Emma sighed at the empty threat and rolled her eyes. Had the guy always been this exasperating?

Feeling eyes on herself Emma turned around and was hugged by Lucy. Now it was Lucy’s turn to be enraged. “What a douchebag!”, she exclaimed. Letting go of Emma she called after Kyle: “You hear me? You’re a douchebag who knows nothing about Emma!”

Feeling her heart swell because Lucy had felt the need to protect her honor, she gave her a huge smile which Lucy returned in equal measure.

Walking over to the computer station together they made the habitual call to the bunker so that Emma could brief the crew on their last target. Presenting the picture of a man in his late 50s, Emma began to speak: “That is Mateo Betassier. His mother immigrated from Quebec, Canada after meeting his father and falling in love with him. Mateo’s father was a member of Rittenhouse, which means that Mateo was born into the organization and had all the amenities that came with it from the beginning of his life. Since his mother was French-Canadian and his father American, Mato was raised bilingual. It became clear early on in his life that he had a natural talent for languages and today he is fluent in six. Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise when he made his talent into a profession, studying English and French with great success, he acquired his title of “professor” faster than average and taught both languages at different universities from that point on. He isn’t a bad person per se, but he also never did anything to change what was happening in Rittenhouse. He concentrated mostly on teaching because that was his passion. He loves languages and giving his knowledge to the next generation has always fulfilled him. At the same time, he was doing his job for Rittenhouse, keeping an eye out for exceptional students who might be of benefit to the organization. He was always a follower who didn't think too much about Rittenhouse's actions and at the same time appreciated the doors that were open to him as a member. Like Kyle he continued his work in the 1970s under a fake identity. My plan is to go back to the past in late afternoon tomorrow. The lectures will be over at the time and Lucy and I can approach Mateo and convince him to come with us. I don’t expect him to put up any resistance, but I suggest that the “bunker team” is going to give us back up from the shadows again. Questions?”

“Yes, I have a question”, Jiya announced. “What are you going to tell him when Mateo asks about Carols absence? I take it the goal is to prevent a repetition of the incident with Kyle.”

“I thought we could tell him that Carol had an accident and although her life isn’t in danger, she’s also in no condition to join us. I also think it’s best if we explain that to him before he even asks about Carol. My hope is that it will be more believable if we give him the information without him having to ask for it.”

“That makes sense. I agree with your assessment that it will be more believable if you give him the information from the start”, Agent Christopher said. “Meeting tomorrow afternoon also sounds like a good plan to me. I don’t have any further questions. Anyone else?”

When everyone shook their heads, they cut the connection.

~

In the evening Emma and Lucy shared the room again. Emerging from the bathroom, Emma could already see Lucy lying under the covers of the bed staring at the ceiling and seeming to be deep in thought. Leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom, Emma took a moment to watch her. She looked angelic, Emma thought, under the white covers, with her porcelain skin and her hair spread around her head on the pillow. What she wouldn’t give to be able to go over to her, cuddle close to her warmth and kiss her senseless. She might have even been able to do that now if Connor hadn’t interrupted their almost-kiss in the morning. But sadly, that was exactly what he had done, and Emma couldn’t be sure, if that was really what nearly had happened. Her mouth had been so close to Lucy’s, but that was exactly the point, close wasn’t the same as a real kiss would have been and so she was left with thinking that this was what would have happened. Sighing, she willed herself to stop the circling of her thoughts, because it got her nowhere.

“What is it?” Lucy asked turning her head in Emma’s direction and keeping her eyes straight to her face.

“What is what?” Emma asked back, noticing the way Lucy refused to look at her body. Smiling to herself, because she had seen how Lucy had checked her out the day before, she walked deliberately slow to the bed, getting half under the covers so that Lucy would still be able to see most of her body. Then stretching her arms over her head as if to loosen up her muscles, she had to suppress the heat rising inside of her at Lucy’s hungry gaze.

Fixing her gaze to the ceiling again Lucy answered: “You were sighing, and I thought something might go through your head.”

Turning, so that she was lying on her side facing Lucy, Emma said: “I was thinking that you looked peaceful and relaxed. I also thought how lucky I am to have you as a partner for the mission tomorrow. You did good with Kyle today.”

“Do you mean that?” Lucy asked, turning sideways to face Emma as well. “I wasn’t able to convince him and I can’t shake the feeling that he would have believed me, if I had spoken with more conviction.”

“No, don’t beat yourself up over that.” Intertwining one of Lucy’s hands with her own, she continued: “You were great. It isn’t your fault that your mother warned Kyle in advance. How should you have known. Even I almost believed your little speech although I knew it was made up.” Emma smiled tenderly at Lucy. “Seriously, I couldn’t have wished for a better or more trustworthy person to have my back than you.”

“Well, you’re not so bad yourself Ladybird”, Lucy remarked teasingly, kissing Emma’s knuckles, before putting their hands back on the pillow again.

“Gee, thanks for the compliment”, Emma responded, playfully slapping Lucy’s arm.

After some more light banter they went to sleep, neither one of them letting go of the others hand.

~

Emma woke to the blaring sound of the alarm clock. She couldn’t believe that she had slept this long. She usually woke up way before that, either because of a nightmare or because her body simply decided that she had slept enough. When the latter happened, she tossed and turned around in bed until she realized that it was no use and got up. She suspected that Lucy’s presence had a calming effect on her, and she was thankful for that.

“Nooo, still tired”, Lucy groaned next to her, covering her head with her pillow.

“Not a morning person I take it”, Emma remarked. Getting out of bed she clapped her hands together. “Rise and shine Lucy. It’s a beautiful day and we need to go find ourselves some nice outfits for the trip.”

The answer to that was Lucy throwing the pillow at Emma. “Stop it with the clapping! It’s way too loud this early in the morning.”

She caught the pillow easily and couldn’t suppress her laughter. Lucy was just too cute in her half asleep, grumpy, morning state. “This early in the morning? It’s 10 a.m.”

~

After having breakfast with Connor, the two women went to Emma’s ‘Clothes for the past’ store to get their 70s outfits.

Emma decided on a green, knee length dress that had white flowers all over it, a broad collar which rested on her shoulders and a front zipper from the waist upwards. A matching belt was twisted through the loops at the middle of the dress. The outfit was topped off with white high boots. Meanwhile, Lucy had put on a blue plaid skirt and a blouse with an orange-blue checked pattern. Her outfit was completed with pumps in orange that each had a tiny ribbon on top.

They headed to the bathroom next to get their hair into appropriate 70s hairstyles. Lucy was ready first, because Emma’s curls where especially stubborn today and absolutely refused to do what she wanted.

“Here, let me help you”, Lucy offered getting behind Emma and holding out a hand for her to place the hairpins in.

“Thank you”, Emma answered gratefully. She hadn’t taken into account what Lucy’s proximity would do to her and wasn’t prepared for the jolt of electricity that rushed through her, when Lucy’s fingers brushed over her nape to put strands of her hair into a bun on top of her head. It was the sweetest kind of torture and at some point, Emma closed her eyes, getting lost in the feeling of Lucy’s hands in her hair and her breath on her neck.

“Emma?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m done”, Lucy announced resting her chin on Emma’s shoulder and smiling at her through the mirror in front of them.

“You’re a lifesaver. Don’t get me wrong… I love my hair in curls, but I swear sometimes…”

Lucy chuckled. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Come on, let’s see if Connor needs us for some last preparations before we jump.”

~

Landing in the past, Emma and Lucy walked the short distance to the university Mateo was currently teaching at, while Jiya, Rufus and Wyatt fanned out to watch them from a distance. When they reached their destination, Emma opened the double doors of the auditorium, in which Mateo had given his last lecture for the day. The professor stood near the teacher’s desk packing up his things.

“Mateo!” Emma exclaimed, approaching the man with open arms.

His eyes widened in surprise at seeing her, but the expression was soon replaced by a huge smile. Emma knew that he liked her. He had always acted paternally around her, and she didn’t despise him like the rest of Rittenhouse, but since he had never tried to change anything in the organization, he ultimately was no better than the others.

“Emma, I thought I’d never see you again”, he replied, hugging her. Looking over her shoulder, he saw Lucy standing not far away from them. Going over to her, he held out his hand. “You are Carol’s daughter, Lucy, if I remember correctly, right?”

“Yes, that’s right”, Lucy answered politely.

“What are the two of you doing here?”

“We’re here because Carol sent us”, Emma explained. Seeing Mateo taking a breath in and getting ready to speak, she held up a hand to stop him. “Before you ask… Carol is fine or at least as fine as she can be under the circumstances. She had a car accident a couple of days ago and suffered several broken bones and a concussion. Right now, she is back at the retreat and is resting to get better. She has trouble walking, because of her broken leg and thought it best to sit this mission out, instead sending Lucy and myself. We’re here to take you back to the present with us. We made some trips to the past while you’ve been here to erase the evidence Homeland Security possessed against Rittenhouse and it worked. The threat is over.”

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that”, Mateo said. “The 70s are nice and all, but it’s still a good feeling to be able to return to the time I’m used to since birth.”

“Let’s go then”, Emma suggested, linking arms with him.

~

Getting Mateo to the ships was easy. Emma and the Professor talked lightly to each other with Lucy throwing something into the conversation from time to time. He didn’t suspect anything was out of the ordinary until he saw the lifeboat.

“What…?” he started, but before he could get any further, Emma injected him with a compound that had Mateo quickly falling unconscious.

“I’m sorry”, she whispered, gently laying him down on the grass.

In the meantime, Jiya, Rufus and Wyatt had emerged from their hiding spaces.

“That went well”, Rufus said. “I guess you’ll need some help getting the guy into the mothership. How about I’ll take his shoulders, while you grab his legs?”

“Sounds good to me. Thank you, Rufus.”

Lifting him up, she heard Wyatt ask Lucy if he could talk to her in private and they went out of earshot. Then Emma concentrated on carrying Mateo the rest of the way and up the steps of the mothership. Once inside, she told Rufus that she could do the rest and thanked him again for his help. She secured the Professor in one of the seats and checked the controls after that to make sure everything was ready for their jump back to the present. When that was done, she walked over to the open door of the mothership to see if Lucy was already on her way back to the ship.

What she saw when she looked outside made her stop dead in her tracks. Lucy and Wyatt stood not far away. She could see them clearly but wasn’t able to make out what they were saying. Not that it was necessary. The scene spoke for itself. They stood only inches apart from each other with Lucy just leaning away from Wyatt with a hand on his chest. She said something to him, and he gave her an answer that made her smile and nod. He leaned forward then, kissing her on the forehead and hugging her tightly after that. That was the moment when her eyes connected with Lucy’s and she forced herself out of her frozen state, walking back inside. She couldn’t breathe, it was as if her heart had been ripped out of her. So, Lucy had chosen the handsome, nice guy over her or maybe that wasn’t even what had happened, and she had only imagined that there was something more to Lucy’s friendly gestures. Maybe she had chosen Wyatt from the start and had only been grateful that Emma had helped her escape and considered her a friend from that moment on. God, how it hurt! How could she have been so stupid? How could she have ever thought that they were meant to be lovers? This was ridiculous! She was ridiculous! Pull yourself together, she chastised herself. Shoving those feelings down, because this was not the time nor the place to have a breakdown, she built up her walls like she had to do so many times before in her life and turned everything to ice inside of herself.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Lucy’s POV_ **

As soon as they landed in the present Emma got out of the mothership as quickly as she possibly could telling the two waiting agents that Mateo was still unconscious and that it was safe for them to go inside and take him out. She then turned in Connors direction giving him a quick nod before heading straight to what Lucy had come to think of as ‘their room’. She wasn’t sure what had happened between them or what she might have done wrong, but after her talk with Wyatt, Emma had been distant and cold towards her in a way that she hadn’t been since before Emma had rescued her from Rittenhouse. She didn’t know why Emma was acting so strange all of a sudden. One moment they were fine and the next she was like this. She really did not have an explanation for Emma’s behavior, except… That was when it hit her. She replayed the scene between Wyatt and herself and thought of how it might have looked from Emma’s perspective. Oh no, Emma had probably made the exact opposite conclusion to what Lucy had told Wyatt and was now protecting herself against her hurt feelings. She had to make this right, Lucy thought to herself and purposefully followed Emma.

When Lucy opened the door without knocking, Emma turned around and Lucy’s chest grew tight, because of the expression she saw on Emma’s face. It was guarded and unreachable with no feelings filtering through, like she used to look at Lucy in the five weeks they spent at the Rittenhouse retreat, but not quite. Lucy knew Emma better by now and her body language showed Lucy that the other woman was having a hard time keeping her emotions in check.

“Don’t do that Emma”, Lucy pleaded.

“Don’t do what? I just wanted to freshen up. It was a long day.”

If she hadn’t known better, Lucy would have believed her, because she said it with such a calm and controlled voice. But she had grown closer to Emma over the past few days and knew that it was her way of shoving all of her feelings behind a wall like she had to do for so many years undercover. But not this time, Lucy thought, not when she could do something about it.

She went over to her and gripped her wrist. Emma stiffened at the touch, but Lucy didn’t let go. “Don’t shut me out. I know that you saw the end of my talk with Wyatt and our hug, but…”

Before Lucy could get any further Emma interrupted her. “Yeah, I saw you. So, the two of you finally admitted your feelings for each other. Good for you”, Emma said and because Lucy was standing so close to her, she saw the pain flash across Emma’s face before she masked it again. “Now can you please let go of my wrist?”

“No, can you please let me explain what happened. Yes I…”

But again, she didn’t come any further, because Emma interrupted her once more. “Look Lucy you don’t have to explain…”

This time, Emma was the one who was cut of mid-sentence, because Lucy had gripped her at the back of her neck and had hauled her in for a kiss. Lucy wasn’t soft or hesitant, she was frustrated and wanted to show Emma how she felt, because the stubborn woman just wouldn’t let her talk. She crushed her lips to Emma’s and was met with a short hesitation before she felt her respond to the kiss. That was all the confirmation Lucy needed to trail her tongue against Emma’s mouth. When she heard her gasp and felt her mouth open as a result, she saw it as an invitation to seek out Emma’s tongue with her own. Now it was her turn to gasp which soon turned into a moan, when Emma put her hand on her lower back to draw her in closer while kissing her back with a passion that made her head spin.

When the kiss finally ended Emma looked at her in surprise and Lucy put her finger on Emma’s mouth to stop her from talking. “I talked to Wyatt and yes he tried to kiss me, but I stopped him. He asked me if it was because of you and I said yes. What you saw was his gesture of letting me go”, Lucy said removing her finger. “I’m in love with you, not him”.

She saw a tear roll down Emma’s cheek to that revelation. “Hey, hey why are you crying?”, Lucy asked.

That made Emma smile. “Those are happy tears. When I saw you with Wyatt, I thought that I had gotten it all wrong. That I was stupid to ever think that we would be more than friends. That you don't feel the same for me as I do for you, but you just proved me wrong. I’m in love with you too Princess.”

“That is good to know Ladybird”, Lucy replied before leaning over to kiss Emma's tears away. From there she went lower, nibbling and licking at Emma’s neck until she reached her collarbone. Judging by the noises Emma was making, she especially liked the attention Lucy had given to her neck. She filed the information away for later use and claimed Emma’s mouth again.

Emma moved her backwards never breaking the kiss until her back was to the nearest wall with Emma’s thigh between her legs. She felt Emma moving her thigh purposefully against her center and had to rip her mouth away to get some much-needed air.

“Too many clothes”, Lucy said and opened Emma’s belt at the waist of her dress letting it fall to the floor. Emma meanwhile bit lightly at her earlobe and then lowered her head to Lucy’s neck. She sighed and let her hand travel higher over Emma’s sides and over her breasts to the zipper on the front of her dress. She pulled it down and tried to push the garment off Emma’s shoulders, making a frustrated sound when the material wouldn’t come down, because Emma didn’t move her arms to help the process.

Lucy felt Emma giving her neck a final peck before taking a step back. She watched as Emma pulled the dress over her head in one quick motion, throwing it carelessly to the side. The boots followed next. Then Emma took the hairpins out of her red tresses and let them fall over her shoulders.

Lucy drank in the sight of Emma standing before her only in her underwear. She was gorgeous. The paleness of her skin stood in stark contrast to her black bra and panties, her red hair looked amazing in combination with that and her body was stunning.

“Like what you see?” Emma asked with a labored breath.

“Yes, but you’re too far away. Come here.”

Emma stepped forward whispering into Lucy’s ear: “And you’re wearing too much.” With that said she began unbuttoning Lucy’s blouse, but apparently ran out of patience after the first few and simply ripped the rest of the item in half, the buttons clattering to the floor all around them.

“That was sexy as hell”, Lucy admitted and pulled off what was left of the blouse. Sliding out of her skirt next, she let it fall to the floor as well and kicked it out of the way. Claiming Emma’s mouth again with her own she walked her over to the bed until Emma’s knees hit the back of the mattress and she let herself fall backward. Lucy used the moment to quickly get rid of her own shoes, climbing on top of Emma afterwards.

“You’re perfect”, Emma said in awe.

“So are you”, Lucy replied “and now” she said kissing Emma’s nose first, then her mouth, then peppering kisses onto the spot on her neck that she had seemed to like “I’m finally able to”, reaching behind Emma she unclasped her bra and slid it off her “kiss all of those beautiful”, paying special attention to each breast by nipping and licking it and taking first one, then the other nipple in her mouth sucking and biting gently before releasing it “freckles of yours”, she finally finished the sentence.

Going further down, she hooked her fingers into Emma’s panties and slid them off those wonderful long legs she had admired just two days ago. Standing up she made quick work of her own bra and panties crawling on top of Emma for the second time. The first contact of their naked bodies sliding against each other had both women gasping.

Flipping them so that Emma was the one on top, it was now her turn to map out Lucy’s body with her mouth. When Emma was face to face with her again, Lucy was so turned on that she knew it wouldn’t take her long to come, when Emma finally touched her where she wanted it the most.

“Emma, please. I need you now”, Lucy almost whimpered.

Emma obviously didn’t have to be told twice, because a moment later she felt Emma thrust two fingers inside of her. Her back lifted of the mattress and she let out a choked moan. Letting her own hand travel downwards she circled Emma’s clit a couple of times, before thrusting into Emma’s wet heat. She felt Emma’s hips buck in response to her ministration and heard her take in a sharp breath.

Thrusting into Emma slowly at first, speeding up steadily while massaging her clit with her thumb, Emma’s moans got louder quickly and came more frequently until Lucy felt Emma’s muscles contract around her fingers. This in combination with Emma’s pumping fingers that reached all the right places inside of Lucy and her treatment of Lucy’s own clit, made her tumble over the edge only seconds after Emma.

Riding out their orgasms together, they kissed tenderly until they had both come down from their height. Finally pulling their fingers out of each other, Emma collapsed next to Lucy, both of them spent and happy. Gripping the blankets from below, Lucy spread them over their naked bodies, and they slumbered off into a content sleep.


End file.
